Brit trans filmmaker/actor/activist Jake Graf is being honoured by The All Genders, Lifestyles and Identities Film Festival (aGLIFF) with a Breakthrough Award Screening that will show four of his films on September 7th 2018.
For the past seven years, 40-year-old Graf has been making short films dealing with transgender issues in an effort to normalize queer and trans experiences to a wider, more mainstream audience. They have all been very enthusiastically received around the globe, and the most recent one DUSK, has picked up a staggering 30 Awards from Film Festivals.
The four being screened at AGLIFF are:
BRACE (2015) This is a highly-spirited well produced drama that pack a lot into its 30 minutes as it skillfully deals with acceptance, rejection, prejudice and deception and queer identity.
After coming out and leaving his girlfriend, Adam dreams of finding acceptance within London’s gay scene. With the luck of a beginner he very quickly meets young handsome Rocky who he is immediately attracted too. However before they can take this potential relationship to the next stage, Rocky desperately wants to share a dark secret that he has been harboring for so long. Before he can get to do this, fate intervenes in the shape of some gay bashing thugs, and things turn out in a way that neither of them ever suspected.
CHANCE (2015) is the most gentlest of movies that explores an unlikely romance between two men living in London. Recently bereaved chubby Trevor is adrift after the death of his wife until he meets Amir who is going through similar emotions. These two men from very different backgrounds simply fall in love after a casual meeting in a park.
DAWN (2016) When two rather lonely total strangers meet at an isolated bus-stop in the dark hours of early morning and strike up a conversation, they both gently reveal their unhappiness over which they neither have control. As they skirt around their problems, there is a commonality in their sadness which draws them to each other. They share a moment of tenderness and understanding in a way that only strangers can do, and by the time the first bus of the day arrives they have bonded so that there is no need to even verbalize about the pain of the night ….. and the days …. that preceded this chance encounter.
DUSK (2017 Growing up in the UK in an intolerant and uninformed world, young Chris Winters struggles to fit in the gender roles dictated by a rigid society. A more than tough childhood left behind, Chris meets dream woman Julie and life lightens a little. But the growing feeling that there’s is life half lived taunts Chris who is turn by ‘what if’s? Chris imagines what might have been and is finally struck by the realisation that for some decisions, there is no right answer, and it is those that truly define us.
N.B. Most of these films can now be seen in full on different streaming platforms and you can follow Jake Graf on Facebook
P.S. Queerguru would love you to bits if you did us one tiny favor. Despite the fact that we have had almost 295K hits on YouTube (yeah!) they will not give us a single cent of the advertising money that they make off us until we have more subscribers. Won’t cost you a dime, but it will help support our site. Just simply click on the link below. Thank you very much!
Labels: 2018, culture, film festival, Jake Graf
